


Prints

by summerartist



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Gen, Mushrooms, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 02:16:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12738963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerartist/pseuds/summerartist
Summary: Stamets shows Burnham his most prized possession. Burnham gains something in return.





	Prints

A voice called for Burnham down the corridor.

 

Michael paused and turned on her heel. She stood stiffly, waiting for the one who sought her to round the bend of the hallway. Someone huffed and puffed and finally came into view. She was met with a strange sight, and she had seen many strange things throughout her career in Starfleet.

 

Lt. Stamets raced after her while carrying a large transparent plate. He was smiling his carefree smile he often bore lately. The object he was carrying held some very tell-tale marks so that Burnham knew what it was even before he closed the distance between them. She smiled politely and mentally shook her head. She knew she was about to be treated to a particular brand of Paul Stamets, the one that was excited and nostalgic over his profession. The cold breeze from his momentum grazed her as he stopped by her side.

 

“Burnham, it occurred to me that I haven’t shown you these yet.”

 

Michael gazed at the intricate marks encased in the glassy plate. She had spend a lot of time in the spore laboratory but to see something so familiar still evoked a feeling of fondness.

 

“Spore prints,” she identified aloud.

 

Stamets held up a finger, which was a feat considering how large a pane he had to balance in his hands. “Not just any spore prints. Some of these are from the most famous fungi in the galaxy, flawlessly preserved in Tabalian glass.”

 

He went on to tell her the story of each one, how this one was found growing beside a nest of Andorian ice-bores, how this one had formed inside a fascinating insect host, how this one was from a common variety growing just outside his grandmother’s home.

 

Each little irregular circle told a story and as Burnham looked at it she realized that the pane was made up of many interlocking pieces, which was how Stamets had managed to add to it over the years. She was reminded of a book, Alice in Wonderland, and how it reminded her of her mother, brother, and Vulcan. She had been quick to talk about it to Tilly. It was an object she was proudest to possess. Now she looked at Stamets’ reminder and felt like nothing could have suited him so fundamentally.

 

Some people likened them to fingerprints. Each had it’s own color and style and it was simultaneously pleasing on an aesthetic and scientific level.

 

Most people never knew how fungi impacted their lives on Earth and other planets, how it broke down and recycled all natural material and helped save lives through medicine. Culber must be secretly amused with how his partner’s area of study aligned with his own.

 

So Burnham followed along as Stamets shared his most prized possession with her. She watched his face with its euphoric glow as he told her about one of the spore prints that was from a mushroom Hugh brought to him from his medical conference trip. She wondered if her face looked like that while reading Alice. Perhaps this was why Tilly requested her to read a passage from it on a regular basis. The Cadet claimed that she simply liked Burnham’s voice but Michael had sensed more to it.

 

They stood longer in that corridor than what was probably strictly necessary but Michael could not say that she found the experience disagreeable. Indeed, when she returned to her quarters she found herself more settled than ever. When it came to the time that Tilly habitually requested that Michael read from her book, Michael got out the novel and started reading of her own provocation. It was evident that Tilly was surprised by the move but did not remark upon it. The Cadet simply smiled and settled down to listen.

 

* * *

 

The end.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully this was not too unscientific but I saw a documentary and was inspired. Can you spot the obscure references to DS9 and ENT?


End file.
